New Series

Channel 4 has ordered a new 4-part factual series called My Last Summer that follows a group of five strangers who are terminally ill and have been told they are dying.

Putting the group all together in the same house will provide them with the opportunity to confront their hopes, fears and regrets and share what thoughts they have on their funerals, legacy and afterlife. They will also get the chance to meet one another’s close friends and families to discuss and understand how death affects those that are left behind.

With guidance and support from some of the country’s leading charities, the Dying Matters Coalition and Marie Curie, Channel 4 hopes this thought-provoking series will challenge the subject of death in a responsible way and tackle the difficult issue both openly and honestly. Continue reading »

Outgoing BBC One controller Danny Cohen has announced a raft of commissions for the channel.

Danny Cohen, the new Director of BBC Television says: “It has been a joy and privilege to commission programmes for BBC One. I hope audiences enjoy the range and creative ambitions of these new dramas for the channel.”

Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning adds: “An exciting clutch of authored drama for BBC One – Debbie Horsfield richly reimagines a literary saga, a beautiful new drama series from award-winning playwright Matt Charman, Peter Bowker returning to BBC One for his first drama since Occupation, and Tony Jordan’s ambitious multi-part, multi-series ‘world of Dickens’ drama.” Continue reading »

Vic and Bob are returning to the BBC with thr new project House of Fools (w/t).

Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two and Shane Allen, Controller, Comedy Commissioning, have commissioned a brand new sitcom from Vic and Bob called House Of Fools (w/t). The series will shoot later in the year for transmission in 2014.

The studio audience sitcom is set in Bob’s grubby flat which he unwillingly shares with Vic… and a constant stream of unwanted visitors, including lady-obsessed lothario Beef (Matt Berry) and Geordie ex-con Bosh (Dan Skinner). Hidden away upstairs is Erik, Bob’s sulky son played by comic Daniel Simonsen and lurking next door is man-eater Julie (Morgana Robinson). Continue reading »

Eddie Izzard has landed himself a role in a new Jekyll and Hyde drama series.

Tony Wood’s (Hollyoaks, The Only Way is Essex) new production company Buccaneer Media will produce the series, which is described as a “fresh new take” on the 1886 novella Strange Case of DR Jekyll and Mt Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson.

“Launching Buccaneer is a hugely exciting move for me,” said Wood. “Our ambition is to build a globally focused company producing everything from family entertainment to high quality drama and structured reality rooted in the social media landscape. Continue reading »

Matt Lucas will be back on BBC One next year with a brand new comedy series with a working title of Pompidou.

Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One and Shane Allen, Controller, Comedy Commissioning, have commissioned a 6×30-minute prime time visual comedy series from Matt Lucas called Pompidou (w/t).

In his first solo authored narrative series, Matt introduces a new set of characters. The series will also feature guest appearances from some of the world’s finest physical comedy performers. The series will transmit late 2014.

Danny Cohen says: “Matt’s new project is wonderfully original and ambitious. I can’t wait to see what he and his talented team produce.” Continue reading »

TV host Claudia Winkleman is fronting a new live dating show for Air New Zealand.

The Heathrow-based Blind Gate challenge is being filmed to form a five-part series for the Air NZ YouTube channel.

The purpose is to pair two singletons who will then fly off on a romantic weekend to LA in the airline’s Economy Skycouch seats.

The Wanted have following in the footsteps of The Saturdays and managed to score their own reality series on the E! channel.

The British-Irish boyband will front The Wanted Life from Ryan Seacrest Productions, which will chronicle their personal and professional lives.

“We’re moving into Hollywood into a big house… for a certain period of time doing a bit of filming, bit of fly-on-the-wall… feel so sorry for [the neighbors], apologies now,” Max George announced on Seacrest’s On Air radio show. Continue reading »

BBC Two announced today that filming has started on Inside No. 9 (working title), an anthology of comedies stuffed with dark humour and unexpected twists created, written by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (A League Of Gentlemen, Psychoville).

Inside No. 9 will be six separate 30-minute stories and is a BBC in-house production. The first three episodes are currently being filmed in studio and on location in London, with a second block of filming next summer. The series will TX on BBC Two towards the end of 2013.

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith follow up the multi-award-winning Psychoville with an anthology of tales of the genuinely unexpected, under the working title Inside No. 9. What goes on behind closed doors on the street where you live? Inside No. 9 invites you into six very different No. 9s, where the ordinary and mundane rub shoulders with the extraordinary and macabre. Continue reading »

To celebrate the return of the iconic Beetle, Channel 4 and London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios have teamed-up with Volkswagen to create a new TV music series, Abbey Road Studios: in Session with Volkswagen Beetle.

Produced by Live From Abbey Road Productions, makers of the hugely successful Live From Abbey Road series, the show will feature a fantastic line-up of established and up-and-coming artists performing in session at the world’s most famous studios.

The series will be supported by a TV ad campaign on Channel 4 from the start of November. The promo ads, produced by The Outfit, feature Paul Weller and will run across the Channel 4 portfolio from Thursday 1st – Wednesday 14th November, alongside pre-rolls and additional short-form video content online. Continue reading »

ITV has commissioned Splash! (WT) a brand new entertainment series that pitches celebrities against each other as they prove what goes up must come down and learn to dive.

Featuring Olympic Bronze medal and British and European Championship winner Tom Daley, Splash! challenges some of the nation’s favourite faces to learn one of sport’s most difficult disciplines on primetime ITV1.

Splash! (WT) will see the celebrity names mix determination, drive and daredevil stunts as they don their swimwear and take to the water. They’ll be flipping, flopping and jaw dropping as they star in this spectacular and hilarious prime time fun. Continue reading »